Monday, February 27, 2012

(This is Part 3 of my account of our trip to Botswana, Africa - you can read Part 1 and 2 in my previous posts)

So it's time for a confession: I did not take enough photos while in Botswana. This is all I have on the food. How I regret it!

Soghum (like a thick paste of oatmeal) with a vegetable puree. Soghum is a staple in Botswana.

At a Nando's restaurant which is famous for its chicken grilled with various seasonings. Did you know Nando's originated from Africa? This is what Google says:

"Nando's is a casual dining experience originating from the Mozambiquan Portuguese community in South Africa with a Portuguese/Mozambican theme."

Peaches. Would you believe they even had grapes over there, with such a hot climate?We also had fat cakes - (sorry, no picture) they are actually balls of dough made up of flour, salt, and sugar, deep fried in oil. They tasted nice but the name itself put me off each time I ate one. I just felt fat while eating them. Maybe if someone had called them slim cakes, what a different story that would be. Just goes to show how important a name is, doesn't it?

Worms (already cooked) which is favoured by some. My husband brought some back and enjoyed distributing and daring others to eat these. Someone said it tastes like ikan bilis (anchovies) but with a grainy texture. I'll just take their word for it. Suddenly, the thanksgiving prayer some people say before meals (as a joke) takes on a literal meaning: "Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub"!

And I couldn't resist taking a video of Esther making palichee - this is another staple in Botswana that is eaten with other dishes like vegetables or meat. It comes in a powder form. Here are two halves of my amateur attempt at taking videos. In the first one, I had mistakenly thought Esther was about to make soghum, but she was actually making palichee. Man, this takes brute strength! And she made this almost every day.

We also had seswa, which is beef boiled for many hours over a wood fire, then pounded to shreds. It tastes much like corned beef. Boago's Dad made us a whole lot to take back and we enjoyed eating it for days after our return.

And now for a bit of craziness. The family got the neighbour's permission to take us for a donkey ride! See how the donkeys were a little disorientated in the beginning until Tammy stood up. I think it helped balance things up.

On coming back after a large round around the neighbour's compound, the donkeys could actually speed and Tammy's holding on for dear life. Hilarious! You can hear the neighbourhood kids screaming in excitement in the background at these crazy foreigners!

Now what have these two videos have to do with Food in Botswana (the title of this post), you ask?psst. Did you know some Africans actually eat donkey meat?